Reading Update | Best Books of 2026?

[00:00:00]I don't think it's being overhyped. I think it's being hyped because people are realizing >> the right amount of hype.

[00:00:04]>> It's the It's the correct hype amount.

[00:00:06]>> Chef's kiss hype.

[00:00:07]>> Yeah, that's right.

[00:00:12]>> Ready?

[00:00:12]>> Yeah, I'm ready.

[00:00:13]>> Okay, let's do it.

[00:00:13]>> I'm Brandon.

[00:00:14]>> I'm Taylor.

[00:00:15]>> This is Good Books Lately.

[00:00:16]>> Welcome to our home. We have a just an actual reading update today.

[00:00:20]>> We've been reading.

[00:00:21]>> We have been >> doing things with on your case quite the haul.

[00:00:26]>> I have a big book haul today.

[00:00:27]>> Last time it was me. But I will say that this stack of books that I have over here, it's only two books that I have reach recently purchased.

[00:00:36]>> The others are ones I have accumulated that I just haven't shared. And I felt like why not today, right?

[00:00:42]>> We did a whole uh what has Taylor found in her book shopping um adventures yes on the after show >> right >> last time. So why not do some more of that in the real one?

[00:00:54]>> That's what we're going to do. We're not exactly sure what's coming up on the after show over on Patreon. we will figure it out.

[00:00:58]>> But join the Patreon to be a part of the book club because we're gonna be talking about the books we're reading in that book club today.

[00:01:04]>> Right. And just so you know, >> as well as others, >> right? We are reading for July for the month of July for the good books lately book club, the best book club in the world. We are reading two books. We have The Secret History by Donna Tart, which we will be talking about today. And then we have Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McC. We will also be talking a little bit about this today. Yeah. Um the we don't not everybody is reading both of these at the same time. It's just an alternative option, right? One >> two options this month.

[00:01:31]>> Two options.

[00:01:32]>> Um join the book club. It's a great book club. Honestly, I'm telling you, >> the best >> the best.

[00:01:37]>> The best.

[00:01:38]>> You want to get started? Yeah.

[00:01:40]>> Let's go ahead and begin with >> done and dusted. Done. I have one from last night. I finished this off last night.

[00:01:45]>> Yeah. Let's do it.

[00:01:46]>> And that is Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradberry.

[00:01:51]Bradberry.

[00:01:52]>> Bradberry. Bradberry.

[00:01:53]>> Bradbury.

[00:01:54]>> Bradbury. Um, yeah, we read Something Wicked This Way Comes as part of our book club last year.

[00:02:02]>> And so I knew I liked his style of writing. My brother uh picked this for me and my aunts and his kind of like buddy readalong.

[00:02:12]>> Uh, it's set in the same town as Something Wicked This Way Comes, but it's it's a entirely different story because it's not supposed to be scary.

[00:02:20]>> Wait, you said it's set in the same town? Is it in the same like universe? I think I remember thinking about this now. Okay. Okay.

[00:02:27]>> Um this is the first one.

[00:02:28]>> Not the same character.

[00:02:30]>> No, this is like before I think or you know but yeah uh but definitely uh a fun interesting read and a surprising read for me. I did not expect to like this book as much as I did. I really enjoyed this book.

[00:02:46]>> Well, good. And it's I as I was finishing it and and and thinking about it, it I was like, man, this is like an early contender for like my favorite book of the year.

[00:02:57]>> This one. Yeah.

[00:02:58]>> Really interesting. That's high praise to Bryce for >> I know it. I know. Yeah. So, thank you, Bryce. Um, >> both of them liked it, too. It's it's a story set in like 1928 in a small town in Illinois. Um, and it's basically kind of about one summer told from this perspective of like a 12-year-old boy and his brother who's 10. Um, and them kind of understanding how life moves and the changing of seasons as well as age and just life progressing and the different events that happen and the way they catalog it in the book. uh in terms of like he he makes a list of different first things that you do during the summer and um all the different things and then you get these little interludes of like stories of other people and they're really fun and you get some suspense, you get some terror, you get some light-heartedness, you get some sadness >> that sounds very Ray Bradberry, something wicked this way >> and the the writing style and the the the what is the pros is very beautifully written. And uh I just h I just enjoyed it and it just >> was so like like with something like this way comes it is one of those books that you feel like >> younger >> generations should read because it'll help them understand the world coming forward. You know >> they should read it when they're younger and then they should read >> it again. Yeah. And I feel like I was telling because this I did this I liked it so much that I wanted a copy for myself because the copy I read was a library edition, a library book that I just returned today, >> but I wanted my own copy and I was >> uh at the bookstore with Angus and I told him I go, "Hey, when you get older, you're going to want to read this book.

[00:04:43]I want you to read this book. I think you'll enjoy it." Uh but yeah, really fun, really uh just a good heartwarming kind of story tale. a bunch of other little interludes, like I said, in there. And I I don't know, I just really found it fascinating.

[00:04:59]>> I want to read the thing. It says, "The summer of 1928 was a vintage season for a growing boy, a summer of green apple trees, mowed lawns, and new sneakers, of half burnt firecrackers, of gathering dandelions, of grandma's belly busting dinner. It was a summer of sorrows and marvels and gold fuzzed bees. A magical, timeless summer in the life of a 12-year-old boy named Douglas Spalding.

[00:05:20]remembered forever in moving interconnected vignettes by the incomparable Ray Bradberry.

[00:05:26]>> Yeah.

[00:05:26]>> It incomparable or incomparable?

[00:05:28]>> Incomparable.

[00:05:29]>> I don't know. Yeah.

[00:05:30]>> And then do you know Arl Stein has a blurb on the back of this? RL Stein, the author of Goosebumps.

[00:05:35]>> Goosebumps.

[00:05:35]>> It says, "I think Dandelion Wine may be the most underrated novel of all time.

[00:05:39]Every page makes me gasp. I read it once a year to remind myself what good writing is." Now you're making me want to read it. You think Margaret Atwood?

[00:05:46]Yeah, it's a really good book and I it's having read um something wicked this way comes enjoying that reading this >> is now got me gotten me to want to read more Raid Bradberry like I've >> you know Fahrenheit uh 41 451 I know about that I never read it in high school but it >> like half of it >> I was the student aid to an English teacher who was teaching that book and He I was grading the the tests or the vocab or whatever, but he showed the film >> and I watched some of that film while I was uh his aid and I remember that seems interesting. So, it might be something I want to read.

[00:06:29]>> I think I've seen the movie. I don't think I've read the book at all actually.

[00:06:32]>> No. And then I want to read The Martian Chronicles and there's a bunch of other story. I was picking this one up. There was one >> called The Invisible Man. a bunch of short stories that are about like the human uh experience, but it's told like based on the the tattoos of a man in a freak show kind of thing. So, yeah.

[00:06:49]>> Well, um yeah, I don't know that that's interesting to me.

[00:06:53]>> I love some of these blurs when you get them by like Arl Stein, Time magazine, Margaret Atwood.

[00:06:59]>> Yeah, >> that's cool. Well, I'm really happy that that was so good.

[00:07:02]>> This would be definitely one I would recommend to a lot of people.

[00:07:04]>> Cool. Very good.

[00:07:05]>> Five stars.

[00:07:06]>> Nice. All right. Okay. Well, I don't have any um done and dusted. And that was your last. That's all I have. So, we're moving into bookmark now, baby.

[00:07:12]Right in.

[00:07:13]>> Yeah. Well, I don't know if I ever mentioned it. I last book update I finished I hadn't finished The Underground Railroad. I did finish that.

[00:07:21]Love that, too. Really great story. But nothing I didn't say. There's nothing I didn't save in the first one that it wouldn't say.

[00:07:27]>> Yeah. If you want a more detailed look, but yeah.

[00:07:28]>> Would you give it five stars?

[00:07:30]>> I think I did give it five stars.

[00:07:31]>> Is it for everyone?

[00:07:32]>> No. I I'm I don't know if it's I mean, yeah, everyone should read that book.

[00:07:36]Not because I think you're going to It's not heartwarming. It's more just like a a good story about a harsh reality of our past.

[00:07:47]>> Sure.

[00:07:47]>> Yeah.

[00:07:48]>> Okay. I like it.

[00:07:49]>> Cool.

[00:07:49]>> All right. My first bookmarked is going to lead us to the book club book for good books lately, which is The Secret History by Donna Tart. This book came out in 1992. However, I I guess uh it's had a resurgence recently >> with the whole, you know, book, whatever. Um, >> and so I wanted to I you know, you kept I kept hearing about Donna Tart and Donna Tart's secret history and she's like, "This is the quintessential dark academia and all of these things." And so, you know, I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. And I started reading this outside of the context of any book club. It was actually not our book club.

[00:08:27]>> This is now the alternate, right? I kind of uh suggested it as an option for the book club as an alternate to Wild Dark Shore, which we'll get to.

[00:08:35]>> Yeah.

[00:08:36]>> Um >> so I don't tend to gravitate towards the trope of dark academia as like a trope.

[00:08:44]I don't think I gravitate towards any one trope for the tropiness of it.

[00:08:48]>> Um but I'm not against reading something that's considered dark academia. I kind of get that. That could be cool. I however this I can see why people say dark academia. It takes place in an academic setting. It's dark. Um, but I guess that's like where that end. I don't know how deep this dark academia trope is supposed to be. Like >> I feel like people try to add in like Harry Potter and they try to add in >> doesn't No, I >> like the first book in the will the will of the many they tried to say that that's somewhat dark and it >> I wish people were tropifying certain things and just let these things cuz as soon as you do that you like cheapen it in a way you make it a novelty >> something to kind of like hey if you like this you like that.

[00:09:32]>> Sure. I guess it's a way to categorize.

[00:09:34]It's it's a way to categorize book types. Okay, I get that and I'm I'm fine with that. But you do have to be careful when that's the only way you're categorizing a book, right? Like if you say, oh, Donatara's Secret History, it's great dark academic.

[00:09:46]>> Yeah. If you simplified this book to just ar then you're doing a disservice.

[00:09:50]>> You're doing a disservice to the book.

[00:09:51]It's like, okay, I'm sure it is, but is that all you got? Uh because this book is >> really w No, I was about to use the wrong word. It's wild. Yeah.

[00:10:02]>> Um, it's really dark. It's dark, but it's >> shoring.

[00:10:06]>> It's It's what?

[00:10:08]>> I was trying to wild dark shore.

[00:10:10]>> It's It's engrossing.

[00:10:13]>> And you are reading about characters that are not necessarily unlikable, >> but they're also not >> But they're also not I don't even know if it's that I don't think they're enjoyable. It's just that you know that they are wrong.

[00:10:29]>> Yeah, >> they're just wrong. I'm listening to it.

[00:10:32]So that's why I'm also >> right like you're just like ah n sorry like as much as I maybe like reading about them in any particular instance it's like I look at them and I'm like I don't know a little bit.

[00:10:44]>> Yeah we got a lot of like we we're talking about a college in Vermont for very privileged kids that come from very probably very academic backgrounds familiarly. um these kids are there because they're super bright or intelligent or maybe they just have a lot of money.

[00:11:00]>> But one way or another, that's mostly what we're dealing with. It's like if you could take Goodwill Hunting and make it dark >> and uh mysterious, maybe that kind of gives you an idea of what the vi the vibe is or the aesthetic.

[00:11:14]>> But it's interesting. It's not a it is definitely a mystery, but it's not a who done it.

[00:11:20]>> It's a why.

[00:11:20]>> It's a why done it. But then like and we are both now 50% over 50% away. And so the the the mystery, right, >> has been done.

[00:11:32]>> No, the the crime >> the crime has been done and and the why it has been done has been told to us, >> right?

[00:11:38]>> But now we still have another half of the book or book two. And now I'm wondering now is it just going to be them?

[00:11:46]>> I would be careful here.

[00:11:47]>> Yeah.

[00:11:48]>> So I um >> I don't know. I know exactly what you're doing because but considering the fact that we have the thing has been done now because the thing the thing is told to you on page one. Okay. So it's not like you know the thing is coming. It's just that we are now in the book where it happens >> and >> but and considering there's still this much of the book left, you're still like on the edge of your seat like what is going to happen? Even though even though the whole thing's been wrapped up tied up with a bow, you know, obviously we know that >> we I >> But it's it's how is this thing gonna Yeah. It's >> play out from there, >> right? And I just feel like >> there's she's got something up her sleeve here.

[00:12:28]>> Yeah, I would I would imagine so.

[00:12:30]>> Oh, absolutely. She must. Yeah.

[00:12:32]>> And and it it isn't like, oh, something must be coming. I've been reading. It's not that. I mean, things have been happening and it's very cleverly done.

[00:12:38]It's very cleverly plotted. The pros is really wonderful. She does like to talk about people uh pushing their hair back or like she talks a lot about how somebody will shove their their hair >> hanging over their >> Yeah, she she she fixates on hair.

[00:12:52]>> Not to the point where it's >> her hair was hanging in my face.

[00:12:56]>> I don't know, but she says something about he he she or he like pushes his hair out of his face. That's the one thing where I' I've noticed like, okay, she uses that a lot. Um, but it's very well written >> and it definitely is worth >> maybe even like going back and rereading certain parts again after you've made it some some distance from the book because you are >> to see if you were if there was breadcrumbs.

[00:13:18]>> I think there's some bread there are some breadcrumbs. I love a book where I feel like the author is leaving you breadcrumbs before you even know to look for them if that makes sense.

[00:13:25]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:13:25]>> Yeah. So, I don't know. I'm really enjoying it. I love talking about it too. through the book club is going to be really interesting this weekend because we more of us have >> read it, gotten into it and I've been listening to it and it's narrated by Donna Tart and she does a really good job of >> narrating it. Um, and it's it's really interesting. It's held my attention.

[00:13:45]>> What we'll do is below this video, we'll link to a couple interviews by Donna Tart. There's one interview from 1992, which was when this >> shortly after this came out shortly after this came out for on C I don't know what show that was. probably a CBS or something like >> but it's a host that was then that interviewed her again 12 years ago >> for the Goldfinch >> for the Goldfinch and um so same host but listening to her talk you get an idea of what type of person she is and if you are familiar with the characters in this book >> yeah you can understand >> you see her >> the college in this book is is inspired by the college that she went to >> that she went to she's an interesting sort that's for sure but anyway really loving this if you've been intrigued or you feel compelled to try it because you want to see all the fuss is worth it. Or if you've read it, let us know what you think.

[00:14:28]>> Come join. Let us hear your thoughts.

[00:14:30]>> But I think it's worth the hype and and I don't think it's getting an an over hyped hype.

[00:14:36]>> No, >> I don't think it's being overhyped. I think it's being hyped because people are realizing, hey, the right amount of hype.

[00:14:41]>> It's a It's a correct hype amount.

[00:14:43]>> Chef's kiss hype.

[00:14:44]>> Yeah, that's right. Okay, I'm done talking about that, but it's great. I like it.

[00:14:47]>> Okay, you want to move on to the other?

[00:14:48]Yeah, you may as well. We're both doing it. But the actual official Patreon book club book is Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConna.

[00:14:57]>> Yep.

[00:14:58]>> Um, and this was we had picked all of the year's books >> ahead of time.

[00:15:03]>> Ahead of time, >> which we will not be doing.

[00:15:05]>> No, we will not be doing that next year.

[00:15:07]But this was slated for July >> and I was excited to read it when I knew it was coming because I had heard good things about it. It was uh well raved and I we got it started it all. I got it uh energized even more because some of our patrons finished it within a couple of days.

[00:15:27]>> Yeah, I was feeling the same way when I realized this is before I started reading it when I realized that people were like, "Wow, I read >> digging in, chewing through it." But >> I had I had low hopes going into this one.

[00:15:37]>> Right. And that's why you wanted to pivot to something else, give another option, a alternate route.

[00:15:43]>> Yeah. But I am really enjoying I'm 60% of the way through which is ahead of schedule for our pacing guide. But I can't stop myself when I get reading it because it's just one of those the way it unfolds.

[00:15:58]>> It keeps you guessing but not guessing but more like keeps giving you little bits of things that make you want to know more.

[00:16:07]>> I call it psychological manipulation >> maybe. But I I think it's really interesting and uh engaging.

[00:16:15]I'm trying to you see how I'm trying to use other words than just fun.

[00:16:20]>> The author is really good at writing a story that makes you feel compelled to read beyond where you left off because she keeps leaving these real um kind of frustrating cliffhers. Yeah. From what I gather >> a little bit. I mean, yeah, there's definitely that >> thing is there's a Colleen Hoover, is that her name? The one who wrote Varity, right? She did it with that book. Like, you have these writers that are almost diabolical in their ability and their uh their uh what do you call it? Propensity for doing this to the reader. They know that they can string you along with these like absurd cliffhers. Now, I have not read an absurd cliffhanger yet, but I think I'm going to have some. There's going to be some in here.

[00:17:03]>> Yeah.

[00:17:04]>> From what I gather, >> I don't know if they're I don't I wouldn't consider them obscene cliffhers. Not obscene, absurd, >> absurd. But I think they are just she just ends the chapter or that person's part in the in the book >> at at a at a moment and then gives you to another person from and you get their perspective. And so it's you're you constantly want to okay, what does this do to the everything? And so you're kind of have all these different narratives going on in terms of our perspectives people.

[00:17:34]>> Yeah.

[00:17:34]>> Right. There's five and you're getting >> Yeah. They're all involved in the same story. It's not like stories. They're all involved in the same story, >> but they are also what you're do what she's doing is building the um your your knowledge of of their life and their trauma.

[00:17:52]>> Yeah. She's building the stakes for each of the individual characters.

[00:17:54]>> Yeah. And I I like that.

[00:17:56]>> I'm enjoying sure because I don't think that there's that structurally speaking or as a way to deliver a story or a narrative. I don't think there's anything wrong with that inherently. I mean, Game of Thrones does that. and Game of Thrones does it really well. Um, >> but from what I gather, because we talked about this a lot in the last book, club me.

[00:18:14]>> This is the way that it's being done here. And when I said psychological manipulation, you can take that with a grain of salt. That's me being kind of hyperbolic, but also trying to kind of make a point is that it's being done to keep you reading much the same way that soap operas are produced to make it where you can't help but come back and watch. And you have to remember that those are produced that way because they need you to watch because they need you to watch the advertisements. So it's all very much like this ploy to keep you reading.

[00:18:40]>> And then we feel like, oh my gosh, this book was just I couldn't put it down. I read it in one bl and then when you're done, you're like, >> but was it good or was I just kind of like psychologically manipulated to keep turning the pages. Now you can be the judge of that yourself. If that is and we have some people in the book club where it's like look, I kept flipping the pages. I couldn't help. I couldn't wait to get home and sit down and read the book because I was enjoying myself wanting to know more and some of it was just like >> whatever crazy you have to suspend some disbelief and if that adds up to a good time >> and it should for most people and it would for me too. Yeah. Okay. So just you can take me with a grain of salt then that is all that matters. I will just tell you >> and them >> and and you >> I don't care for it very much.

[00:19:22]>> I know >> because I feel like it is an immaturely written book.

[00:19:27]>> Yeah. your your biggest like >> but look what I'm reading alongside I started listening to that first >> and I feel like I'm also you know I also was reading danaline wine to like >> yeah just know >> it's not the same level of in terms of like >> this is not lit pros or >> no >> uh but it is an engaging story that keeps you engaged and keeps you reading and it's not when you say yes there are things you have to kind of suspend disbelief about >> just like you would in a soap opera.

[00:19:58]>> Yeah. But it it's not saying that in a bad way. It's not like super out of left field. It's not like like, oh, there's no way that could happen.

[00:20:08]>> There's things like that doesn't seem likely that so and so is doing that >> because they have to be written in this way to keep it going.

[00:20:16]>> It is. But it but you I don't know. I It's a what do they call like it's almost like a um Oh, what a popcorn book.

[00:20:24]>> Yeah. Yeah. Jelly potato chip book.

[00:20:25]Okay, you just >> just one more. And that's fine. Yeah, >> I think Blake said it and a few other people in the meet said it too cuz I was, you know, I have criticisms of this book because when I went into this and this is really important when it comes to when you approach a book. My approach to this was I was assuming this was literary fiction. I did no research on this.

[00:20:42]>> Have you >> I did nothing to to tell me what kind of book this was. I didn't know. I just thought this was literary fiction about a real kind of this the way that it's written here is very literary sounding.

[00:20:54]The cover gives a very literary fiction kind of vibe. Um, that's what I thought I was going to get. So, I was expecting a higher level of plotting, of character development, of dialogue, of just writing, >> right?

[00:21:07]>> But if somebody had said to me like Wild Dark Short, oh, it's great. It's like it's like a a a naturalist or if you're really into like nature and climate change and protecting the the earth and all of this, like it's like a soap opera in a book. You're going to keep flipping the pages. There's like interesting like there's like some sex in there. There's like some really weird kids and like there's I don't know. But the thing is is like if somebody had said to me like yeah like it's going to be you're just going to keep flipping. It's like Colleen Hoover meets like whatever. I would have been like oh >> you would you would I would have brought my standards down a little bit.

[00:21:43]>> Pre-ereading would have been >> right. My I would have managed my expectations. So I did myself a disservice by not doing any kind of pre-ereading whatsoever. However, I will say Beth in our book club kind of alluded to these things. Yeah.

[00:21:57]>> A little bit in some of the things that she was saying, but I don't think she wanted to give too much away. So, just know going into Wild Dark Shore, there's a fantastic chance you're going to enjoy yourself >> from from what I gather. But definitely don't go into it expecting anything close to something like a Donna Tart.

[00:22:12]Don't go into it expecting literary fiction. expect like a choline chen Hoover level of >> page turning and like just like what and then I don't know >> that's I guess what it is is you just have to know going into something what you're getting I was expecting something else and clearly I was like okay this is definitely not that >> right >> so that's that's where I am placing this I am going to finish it because >> other I'm finishing it for the book club otherwise I would DNF it >> just because I'm not really into that kind of It's okay.

[00:22:46]>> Yeah, take that with a grain of salt.

[00:22:48]>> But that's our other option.

[00:22:49]>> Yeah.

[00:22:49]>> For the book club.

[00:22:50]>> I'm trying to imagine like how I would redesign this.

[00:22:53]>> That's what we might want to talk about in the after show, >> which is >> August's book.

[00:22:58]>> Yeah.

[00:22:59]>> Because I don't know if I want to read that. What's lined up?

[00:23:02]>> What is it? I don't even know what it is. Is it Lancelot?

[00:23:04]>> Yeah.

[00:23:04]>> Oh, Lancelot.

[00:23:06]>> So, I might be throwing an alternate in there if you want to actually read that.

[00:23:09]>> Okay. Well, we can talk about it. I'm I'm up for one. Come check out the after show and the book club meet on Sunday.

[00:23:14]>> I mean, if we want to get dark and spooky, I we can get into the uh pickups and we can talk about >> Yeah, we can go. Let's go into the pickups cuz that's all we got. We got no more bookmarks.

[00:23:22]>> Do yours first. You only have one.

[00:23:23]>> I have one. While I was getting Taylor a coffee on my way home.

[00:23:26]>> So sweet.

[00:23:27]>> Uh there's a little free library in the coffee shop and I picked up Herooqi Makami's Sputnik Sweethearts and I don't think I've seen this available at uh our bookstore.

[00:23:39]>> It looks like there's supposed to be a sticker. I wonder if this was an advanced reading copy or something.

[00:23:42]>> I don't know. I don't think so. It has a, you know, whatever. Yeah.

[00:23:47]>> Barcode. Um, but yeah, I think this is the when I read uh Kofka on the Shore.

[00:23:52]>> Yeah.

[00:23:53]>> Your brother said I think he recommended that he liked Sputnik Sweetheart or somebody in the comments said that or or whatever. Um, and so I saw it. I was like, "Hey, I'll pick it up. I have the Windup Bird Chronicles by him as well on the shelf." Um, and so >> free little library at the coffee shop, by the Yeah, that's what I said.

[00:24:11]>> Oh, did you mention that? Oh, okay.

[00:24:12]>> Yeah. And what's interesting about this is it has notations from whoever previously owned it. So, they have like their thoughts as we go through for a second because what's really funny about this >> is that I think now that I'm looking at this >> Oh, okay. This is funny. I picked this up when I was at the coffee shop glass with Christina and I uh was checking it out and I noticed that there are some like notes on the first and second page.

[00:24:35]Uh a few in here and then if you flip through there's like no notes to be seen. Nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing at all. Yeah, it's like they gave up.

[00:24:42]>> But then at the very back flap, they write something. But anyway, this is um what it says on the back. Part romance, part detective story. Cool.

[00:24:50]>> It tells the story of a tangled love triangle of uniquely unrequited love.

[00:24:55]>> That sounds like right up your alley, babe.

[00:24:57]>> Yeah. So, I don't know. I like I liked Copska on the Shore, and I feel like this would be a good kind of shorter version of similar storytelling.

[00:25:06]>> Cool.

[00:25:07]>> Yeah. So, Sputnik, Sweetheart, picked it All right. Well, we're gonna need to get this moving here.

[00:25:12]>> I've got these books.

[00:25:14]>> Yeah.

[00:25:15]>> Okay. Um I was at the bookstore a while about a month ago and I saw that they had a copy of The Odyssey that looked like this.

[00:25:24]>> Yep.

[00:25:25]>> Look how gorgeous that is. Like, are you kidding me?

[00:25:28]>> Wonderful cover.

[00:25:29]>> Oh, it's absolutely beautiful. Um this is >> the Penguin Classics edition.

[00:25:35]>> This is the Penguin Classics edition.

[00:25:37]This is translated by Robert Fagels.

[00:25:40]Now, I've so I read the Odyssey almost entirely. I think I had to get to for time purposes. I think I had to kind of skim some parts, but for the most part, I read it almost entirely when I was in college. Um, I don't want to shake the table around too much. I'm sorry. That's okay. Uh, and the one that I read, I don't know if it was Fagel.

[00:26:00]>> It might have been because that sounds familiar to me. I actually had a copy of The Odyssey in our home library. And this is the Latimore translation, which a lot of people say is the best translation. Um, >> like more most true or >> Yes. And you can see that I made it to book three in this translation.

[00:26:18]>> Anyway, I don't know. I'm not I'm not a scholarly, you know, of the classics. I can't I couldn't tell you. My brother probably could.

[00:26:25]>> But you've been reading The Secret History, >> right?

[00:26:28]>> And so they talk about home.

[00:26:29]>> They talk about Yeah, they're talking about Greek, you know, Greek in general.

[00:26:32]Anyway, I just couldn't resist this copy because it's just so stinking beautiful.

[00:26:36]You know what I haven't done is I haven't even looked. Oh, okay. I'm barring. Yeah. Um, but this is just it's really a beautiful book now. Uh, I got that.

[00:26:46]>> Yeah.

[00:26:48]>> I really love the story of the Odyssey.

[00:26:51]It is a difficult story to read to say the least.

[00:26:55]>> Yeah.

[00:26:55]>> But I really love the story of the Odyssey.

[00:26:57]>> Which one would be harder, the Odyssey or the Iliad?

[00:27:00]>> I don't know because I've never read the Iliad.

[00:27:01]>> I have. or I I learned I was taught it in in college.

[00:27:05]>> If I had to guess based on what I think is in the Iliad, >> I almost wonder if the Odyssey is more fun for a person who wants to read about all kinds of different adventures, whereas the or uh I'm sorry, I meant the Odyssey. Did I say the Odyssey?

[00:27:20]>> Yeah. Um whereas the Iliad is more for somebody who really likes um like military like war and uh >> like almost like semihistorical like connections and >> maybe but also things that lead to uh military action and what am I trying to say? Whatever I'm trying to say is like because they go that's when they have the battle the battles, right?

[00:27:40]>> Uh >> so I I actually I don't know. I couldn't tell you.

[00:27:44]>> But I love the stories that come from the Odyssey. I love the characters in the Odyssey and I'm really excited to see the movie.

[00:27:51]>> Um, >> yeah, >> I don't care what people say about how off it is because >> this was written ages ago and even then it wasn't written. It was it was told and people can just stop.

[00:28:03]>> Okay.

[00:28:03]>> Yeah.

[00:28:04]>> Just let it let it be.

[00:28:05]>> Let it be. Let it be what it is. Just don't watch it if you don't want to watch it. Who cares?

[00:28:08]>> Anyway, I have that. So, I'm excited about that. It's beautiful. And do you know do you know if somebody were to read to you the first line of the Odyssey, would you be able to clock it as the first line of the Odyssey?

[00:28:19]>> Maybe I because I taught classical studies >> not to be careful not to shake the table >> in high school for as a high school teacher. I taught classical studies and I often would show uh the movie and we would talk about the Odyssey and Homer.

[00:28:34]>> Yeah.

[00:28:35]>> Um so I probably would >> the first line.

[00:28:40]You talking about the introduction or the book one?

[00:28:43]>> Book one. Interesting. Okay. Um, read your book one line first.

[00:28:49]>> Tell me, muse of the man of many ways who was driven far journeys after he had sacked Troy's sacred citadel.

[00:28:57]>> Okay, so this is the Fagel's version.

[00:29:00]Sing to me of the man muse, the man of twists and turns, driven time and again off course once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy.

[00:29:08]>> I like better. Yeah, it's more lyrical.

[00:29:11]Now, more lyrical does not always mean more accurate, and sometimes it can change the like shade of meaning of something, but I prefer more lyrical if I'm reading something like this. I think I think that's what what's very interesting about um Greek trans old Greek works that have been translated is finding the one that works for you but understanding that >> while it works for you in one way you may be losing out in a different way.

[00:29:40]>> Sure. when I read um Swerve the the book that whatever the >> um uh Epicurius right >> and learning about the different translations of his works because there's not many >> the different translations >> you find that like while some are you know it's certain words that they get hung up on like slave or servant or >> well things like that >> well this is an interesting conversation because there are folks who are uh translating not well the um other like yes because there's a writer out there I don't know if I was uh referring to what were we listening to it was somebody who was translating either it wasn't the Odyssey or maybe it was the Odyssey but they were coming at it from a perspective of like a very modern perspective when it came to slaves yeah >> and uh the women all being slaves there's I cannot remember for the life of me so I don't want to flatten what they were saying but they there was mention that you have to be really careful careful because how we talk about them as slaves or enslaved people now, they it wasn't culturally seen that way then and you have to kind of at least understand the baseline before you can start >> appreciating new. Yeah. Right.

[00:30:57]>> It wasn't just one like there was the class but it was >> elevations or different. I think that if you're translating a book from such a some a culture in a time that is so far removed from our own, but you're putting it in language that is relevant to the modern time or through the like using the modern times as a way to re you're kind of doing a disservice to the original and you're you're hiding the reality of what it was, how it was communicated then by superimposing how we would communicate it now. And I think you lose something in doing that.

[00:31:34]There's like an irony. I think you're trying to like >> make it better or or make it more realistic and and like so we all realize just how horrible it was.

[00:31:45]>> But at the same time, you're kind of >> I don't know. It's it's inauthentic. And I think that inauthenticity has drawbacks. And so I it's like when I was talking about that Carmela book, the Dracula or the vampire book. I want to read I want to read something as close to the original as possible because they're talking about something that was so taboo for that time period before I read some kind of like feminist >> uh you know leaning retelling of it that's that's definitely going to sway the narrative a little bit which I have nothing I have no problem with that I just want to know the original before I read something where there's like maybe >> you know some other kind of narrative being put put in there I don't know that's just that's just my I kind of like to I like to get it from the horses his mouth.

[00:32:29]>> Yeah.

[00:32:30]>> As much as I can.

[00:32:31]>> Homer's a horse.

[00:32:32]>> All right. All right. Then, okay. So, then that same trip, I picked this up. I have been walking by this book and wondering about this book and fearing this book. Everybody tells me like, "Oh, >> you hear >> you don't want that. You don't want that one. That one will you won't sleep right. It'll that is going to mess you up.

[00:32:54]>> It's considered like a difficult >> Yeah. in terms of understand it's a mess.

[00:33:00]>> Yeah, there's pages where >> it's a mess. Okay, but when you read the reviews for this book, you can't help but be like, wait, what? Like people are saying like this book is it's going to it's going to mess you up. In fact, if you go to um the very first after the uh like after the forward or not the forward, hold on.

[00:33:23]It says there's like the table of contents. Yeah. The forward and then it says, "This is not for you."

[00:33:28]>> Yeah. Like the quote >> like, "This is not for you." Um, and and then it starts and it's just I don't know. I don't know what I'm getting myself into. I have no idea. You can let me know if you've ever read this. This sounds to me like >> who knows what is happening, but people say that it jacks them up.

[00:33:44]>> Really? Yeah.

[00:33:44]>> Like, all right.

[00:33:45]>> Yeah. In fact, in the after show, I'll read some of the reviews that I read for this because it is >> You can go read them yourself, but we'll talk about them. Like what is even happening here?

[00:33:56]>> How do you read that?

[00:33:57]>> Let me see it. It's like a st weird. I have no idea.

[00:34:01]>> It's just the same word over and over again.

[00:34:03]>> Wild. Okay. So, that was another one I picked up because apparently I'm a statist.

[00:34:07]>> Yeah.

[00:34:07]>> Um Okay. And then this one was recommended to me. We were talking about my brother. We were talking about how like everybody there's there's only so many dramatic situations that you can have in a story before kind of they repeat themselves. Somebody else puts their own spin on them. And so he's like, "It kind of reminds me about the 36 dramatic situations by Gor Py." I don't know if that's correct, but this is it.

[00:34:28]>> 36 dramatic situations. I bought it. I was thinking like, "Oh, yeah, that sounds interesting. I could read this."

[00:34:34]And it talks about all these dramatic situations that will always recur >> because there are no there are no other dramatic situations outside of these, right? No story is original and that's okay, but this is just a this is just whatever. So, I get the book and I'm like, "Oh, interesting." and I start looking through it and I'm reading about all the different kinds of them and then I'm like I don't know if I'm ever going to really read about this like it is kind of like a textbook. It's interesting to have. So I was going to return it to Amazon.

[00:35:00]>> So I go to I'm like I'm just going to send it back. I can't justify whatever.

[00:35:04]So I go to return it to Amazon and they the the return like we'll refund your money. You can just keep it. I'm like >> all right.

[00:35:11]>> All right cool.

[00:35:12]>> Because I had already done it. I had already done the return and they just gave me back my money. Um but they said I could keep it.

[00:35:16]>> Yeah. So anyway, I have that I the only reason I'm sharing this is because I do think it's an interesting idea to look them up every once in a while.

[00:35:23]>> 26th situation crimes of love.

[00:35:26]>> Yeah, there you go. Okay. When I was reading Jane Air um and I was going through the reading the classics, >> yeah, your Victorian romantices, >> I picked I picked up Dr. Thorne by Anthony Trrollop and uh because it sounded like another one I would really like and it got really good reviews and there's a series out. I think it's on BBC. I don't know.

[00:35:47]Uh, but it says, "Frank has but one duty before him. He must marry money."

[00:35:53]>> It's just one of those like, you know, >> Yeah.

[00:35:56]>> British books like that, >> right?

[00:36:00]>> Anybody know anything about this? Let me know if you've read Dr. Thorne because I picked it up. Yeah.

[00:36:04]>> And I think I probably did it a little uh >> willy-nilly.

[00:36:07]>> Willy-nilly. But there it is. There you have it. Um, those are my book pickups.

[00:36:11]I am most excited about this bad boy.

[00:36:14]Yeah, it's cool.

[00:36:16]>> Yeah, it is cool. You're cool.

[00:36:18]>> You're cool.

[00:36:19]>> You're cool.

[00:36:20]>> You're very cool.

[00:36:21]>> All right, so we're going to go take this over to the after show where we will talk a little bit more about >> book reviews of this book.

[00:36:27]>> Yeah. And also give get the ball rolling on what maybe we're going to do with August.

[00:36:32]>> Yep. Sounds good. I like that idea. All right, you guys. Thank you for hanging out with us for another reading update.

[00:36:36]We'll catch you in the after show. Until next time.

[00:36:40]Bye.